OCC: I get the feelin' you're gonna love this one, guys, just thought I'd throw that out there.

Staff

Dom Capers fired as DC

We all knew this was coming, let's be honest. After laying a giant stinker 3 out of the last 4 years in crunch time, TT decides enough is enough and moves on.

Packers hire Romeo Crennel as new DC.

With the Chiefs letting him go and Capers no longer there, TT sees the opportunity to nab a perfect replacement and hires former DC/HC Romeo Crennel. This allows us to stick with the 3-4 defense while giving us a proven commodity at DC (which he's obviously best at), having previously ran the elite Pats defenses of the early 2000s during their "Dynasty" years. With some new pieces added to the defense (to be revaled later on) and familiarity with the scheme, here's hoping he can return the magic to GB.

The defending SB champion Niners, picking last, with 14 picks and having a perennial edge rusher fall in their lap, sees the perfect opportunity for a trade up and trades with the Pack to nab one of the LSU DE/OLB duo in Markevious Mingo or Sam Montgomery (I believe one or, just maybe, both could potentially end up falling towards the end of the 1st round) while the Packers, having various glaring needs that need to be addressed early, gets another pick in the process.

32. FS Kenny Vaccaro, Texas
6'1" 218 lbs.

The first of several pieces of that "physical" D is brought to GB. Kenny Vaccaro is arguably the best and most physical Safety in the draft. He is fast, excels in man coverage, plays the run well, and hits early and often. He does have a tendency to miss tackles on occasion, but when he does make a tackle (and more often than not, he won't miss his man), man he just flat out nails opposing players. And he can play either Safety position, allowing Burnett to move to his more natural SS position.

40. ILB Kevin Minter, LSU
6'2" 245 lbs.

Picking early in the 2nd round after the Jennings trade and having another big gap at ILB with Hawk's departure, Kevin Minter falls right in their lap, and they take him here. He gives us another added dimension of "nastiness" on defense, racking up 209 tackles at LSU and arguably being their best defensive player last year. He is fast, physical, and at 6'2, 245 pounds, adds a big bodied, hard-tackling presence to the middle of our defense. He is also adequate in coverage, which everyone knows the Packers could use some decent coverage LBers.

57. DT/DE Kawann Short, Purdue
6'3" 315 lbs.

The final missing piece to our D is addressed here. Kawann Short is arguably the best pass-rushing DL in the draft. He can do it all: stuffing the run, eat up blockers, AND get in the backfield. Granted, He is not as stout against the run as Jesse Williams, Johnathan Hankins or Star Louteleli, but he plays the run well enough, having amassed 49 TFL in his 4 years at Purdue. He can also get after the quarterback (he is tied for 5th in the SEC in sacks, let's not forget), something our DL has sorely lacked (at least on a consistent basis) since the departure of Cullen Jenkins. As an added bonus, he is a pass disruptor as well, having batted 4 passes in 2012. The trio of Short, Raji and Worthy solidifies our DL (all 3 base DL with pass-rushing ability is huge in a 3-4) and creates nightmares for opposing quarterbacks for years to come.

64. TE Zach Ertz, Stanford
6'6", 252 lbs.

Having passed on the opportunity to draft Tyler Eifert in the 1st round, the Packers finally get their TE here as he falls all the way to the end of the 2nd round (I HAVE seen Ertz drop to the bottom of the 2nd in some mocks, so bear with me, IF he were off the board at this point, I would probably go WR or OL here). He leads all college TEs in receiving yards and at 6'6" gives us another big, physical TE to pair with Finley. The 2 TE set of Finley and Ertz creates a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and helps neutralize the 2 deep safety sets we were constantly faced with last year while also opening up the run game in the process.

74. RB Eddie Lacy, Alabama
6'0", 220 lbs.

With the Bengals taking Gio Bernard with one of their 2nd round picks and with none of the top 10 picks needing a RB, the dynamic Lacy falls all the way to the top of the 3rd round. TT hits the Jack Pot in acquiring an early 3rd, and the Packers snag him with the 3rd round pick acquired from the Jets in the Jennings trade. The Pack finally get that dynamic RB they've been desperately looking for to accomodate their passing game. With a new deadly 2 TE set and improved OL (with Sherrod and Bulaga both coming back from injuries) to block for him, he fulfills that one missing piece from this offense.

90. WR Stedman Bailey, West Virginia
5'10", 193 lbs.

Jordy/Cobb/Jones/Finley/Ertz/Bailey finalizes our already deep receiving core and gives us that replacement for Jennings. With Jordy, Jones and Cobb in the slot, we don't necessarily need a high round draft pick spent at WR, but Bailey gives us great value here in the 3rd. While lacking in size, he has great speed, great hands, racks up a lot of YAC, and is a deep threat.

104. C Khaled Holmes, USC
6'4", 305 lbs.

The best starting pure C in college, he gives us that one missing piece on our OL (with both Sherrod and Bulaga coming back next year) and is a Day 1 starter ahead of EDS.

121. (COMP) QB Landry Jones, Oklahoma
6'4", 229 lbs.

With no real pressing needs at this point in the draft, the Packers nab themselves a quality backup QB to relieve Rodgers in garbage time, or (God forbid) adequately fill in in the case of an injury.

154. DT/DE Kwame Geathers, Georgia
6'6", 365 lbs.

Packers get somewhat of a steal in the 5th round, acquiring nice depth on our DL and Pickett's eventual replacement. Not really a game-changer, by any stretch, but then again, we don't necessarily need one.

185. FB Zach Line, SMU
6'1", 219 lbs.

Having fulfilled all their needs to this point, the Packers take the top FB in the draft as depth behind Kuhn, and as a possible replacement in the future.

217. (COMP) WR Tarvarres King, Georgia
6'1", 200 lbs.

With one of our compensatory picks, the Packers nab DD's replacement in the 7th round and he immediately shoes in as our #5 receiver on the depth chart.

218. K Dustin Hopkins, FSU
6'2", 190 lbs.

With an abundance in picks, TT uses one of his many extra picks to draft a K to compete with Mason for the starting gig in training camp.

Pretty much a train wreck, not sure if you are making your own projections on slot or not. I have a hard time with some of those players being available at those slots whoever is making the projection. Just unrealistic but if you were going for something outside of the box, ok fine.

My real problem is with the slotting. The Packers will likely have to trade up to get Vaccarro (possibly very high) rather than down, and Ertz, Short, and Lacy are guys who are potential first round picks come April.

I mean, if the Packers ended up with Vacarro, Ertz, Short, and Lacy come April (without trading away a bunch of players or future picks) that would be awesome, but it would also be awesome to draft Lotulelei, Cooper, Fisher, and Dion Jordan... it's just not going to happen.

Yeah, I know it doesn't sound realistic, I was just going by a few mocks that I've seen with said players falling to said spots, and the picks I would acquire to be able to pick up said players in said spots. Like I said, I HAVE seen Ertz fall to the bottom of the 2nd in some mocks, though admittedly, those ARE few and in between, and it probably won't happen in the real draft. I've also seen some mocks with Vaccaro falling to the late 1st-early 2nd, same with Minter, and I've seen my share of mocks with Short being available at the end of the 2nd round, I've even seen a couple Packer mock drafts with us taking him with our 2nd round pick (no. 57), and a couple mocks with Lacy falling in the 2nd. If he makes it that far (doubtful, I know), the only team picking late with a need at RB is Atlanta. If they were to pass him up, that leaves only the Jets with a hole at RB in the 3rd round, which we acquired in the Jennings tag and trade in my mock, hence us acquiring him early in the 3rd.

Plus, Cincy acquired a bunch of 1st-2nd round talents with all the picks they've acquired in the first 3 rounds in last year's draft (heck, they got Devon Still, 2011 Big Ten DPOTY, at 53), so you never know.

Imagine if all of this did happen, though, it wouldn't even be fair to the rest of the league in getting Short, Minter, Vaccaro, Ertz, Lacy, etc in addition to getting Perry, Sherrod, Bulaga, and Worthy next year. Not to mention, those first 3, at least are possible with the picks we would be getting in said trades, or at least players with similar talent at those spots (ie: either of the Williams linemen in the late 2nd instead of Short, and Eric Reid instead of Kenny Vaccaro if they're gone by said picks) since we would be getting the last pick in the 1st after the trade down with San Fran and 3 2nd round picks, including an early 2nd. The talent pool would be very similar beyond the 32nd pick, up until maybe the end of the 2nd or early 3rd round. Still, there might be some 1st-2nd round talents that fall to the bottom of the 2nd round.

Nonetheless, I might do another mock at a later time that's somewhat feasible.

What team were you watching last year? Capers was even more vanilla than 2011 and only dialed up a good game plan when he had to. Dude, let go of the cord. Capers needs to be replaced, plain and simple. This isn't the Univ. of Iowa where Ferentz has a couple of crap years and people can equate it to all sorts of issues out of his control.

The fact is that our scheme has held us back the past 2 years and we've gotten creamed in the playoffs because of Dom's soft defense, lack of adjustments, and horrible coverage schemes.

What team were you watching last year? Capers was even more vanilla than 2011 and only dialed up a good game plan when he had to. Dude, let go of the cord. Capers needs to be replaced, plain and simple. This isn't the Univ. of Iowa where Ferentz has a couple of crap years and people can equate it to all sorts of issues out of his control.

The fact is that our scheme has held us back the past 2 years and we've gotten creamed in the playoffs because of Dom's soft defense, lack of adjustments, and horrible coverage schemes.

But not injuries to Desmond Bishop, DJ Smith, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, a Mike Neal suspension, a Tramon Williams severe shoulder injury, the loss of a perennial pro-bowl and arguably the best safety in the league, the loss of our best interior pass rushing force, and an injury to our rookie first round pick OLB who was making great strides opposite of Matthews.

What team were you watching last year? Capers was even more vanilla than 2011 and only dialed up a good game plan when he had to. Dude, let go of the cord. Capers needs to be replaced, plain and simple. This isn't the Univ. of Iowa where Ferentz has a couple of crap years and people can equate it to all sorts of issues out of his control.

The fact is that our scheme has held us back the past 2 years and we've gotten creamed in the playoffs because of Dom's soft defense, lack of adjustments, and horrible coverage schemes.

But not injuries to Desmond Bishop, DJ Smith, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, a Mike Neal suspension, a Tramon Williams severe shoulder injury, the loss of a perennial pro-bowl and arguably the best safety in the league, the loss of our best interior pass rushing force, and an injury to our rookie first round pick OLB who was making great strides opposite of Matthews.

None of that.

And yet despite all that we rose from #32nd ranked defense to #11 with makeshift talent. But you're right, he deserves to be fired for all that. _________________
Thanks packerbacker87 for the sig!

What team were you watching last year? Capers was even more vanilla than 2011 and only dialed up a good game plan when he had to. Dude, let go of the cord. Capers needs to be replaced, plain and simple. This isn't the Univ. of Iowa where Ferentz has a couple of crap years and people can equate it to all sorts of issues out of his control.

The fact is that our scheme has held us back the past 2 years and we've gotten creamed in the playoffs because of Dom's soft defense, lack of adjustments, and horrible coverage schemes.

But not injuries to Desmond Bishop, DJ Smith, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, a Mike Neal suspension, a Tramon Williams severe shoulder injury, the loss of a perennial pro-bowl and arguably the best safety in the league, the loss of our best interior pass rushing force, and an injury to our rookie first round pick OLB who was making great strides opposite of Matthews.

None of that.

And yet despite all that we rose from #32nd ranked defense to #11 with makeshift talent. But you're right, he deserves to be fired for all that.